Lunar Eclipse
The Lunar Eclipse, also widely known as a 'Bloodmoon Eclipse ', is a celestial event in the world of Ashan. At a lunar eclipse, the Demons of Sheogh grow stronger, usually allowing them to escape their fiery prison and invade the world of Ashan, albeit temporally. As such, Demons are inexorably dragged back to their prison dimension once these Eclipses are over, some of them, however, sometimes find ways to maintain themselves on Ashan but they don't really last long. Fortunately Eclipses are rare, with a hundred years or more usually passing between them, allowing the kingdoms of Ashan to heal from the previous eclipses and then prepare for the next one. The first eclipse came in 344 YSD, after the Years of Healing. Unable to combat the demons on their own, the Wizards of the Seven Cities created the Beastmen and Orcs to fight their foes. Much the same, the Wizards of House Eterna that would become the Necromancers, began using the new magic skill of Necromancy to raise the dead and combat the demons. The second eclipse occurred in 564 YSD, and the Holy Falcon Empire was attacked. Irina and Sandor Griffin were among the many that fought against the hordes. Though the Demons were successful in killing the Falcon Emperor, Liam, they failed to kill off the rest of the Falcon Family, thanks to the efforts of Anton, Duke of Griffin, saving Gwendolyn Falcon. The third eclipse, in 717 YSD, was brief, but nearly destroyed the Dragon Knights, and their hideouts (the Hidden Houses) were lost, forcing them to go into hiding. While most of the kingdoms of the world took part in the eclipse, the knights of the Holy Falcon Empire, the Wizards of the Silver Cities and the Elves of Irollan played a key part in a battle near the Vantyr Mountains. At first, the battle did not go well. The Demons were uncharacteristically well-disciplined, and were taking the upper hand. However with the death of the demon general at the hands of the Unicorn Duchess, Rowena, the Demon forces immediately became wild and disorganized, and were easily overcome by the allied armies. The fourth eclipse in 843 YSD was the end of the Holy Falcon Empire, when the Falcon dynasty was massacred by the traitor turned succubus, Jezebeth. The eclipse ended when the Duke of Griffin, Ivan, who was also friends with Falcons, killed Jezebeth. Despite this victory, without a known surviving Falcon, the entire Empire fell into civil war with each duke fighting for the throne. During the fifth eclipse in 951 YSD, the knights of the Holy Griffin Empire, the Wizards of the Silver Cities and the Elves of Irollan formed the Gray Alliance to deal with the demonic invasion. The alliance was victorious, and Kha-Beleth was pushed back, but emperor Alexei lost his life pursuing the demon lord against the advice of his allies, archmage Cyrus and high king Alaron. The sixth eclipse came in 969 YSD. Kha-Beleth hoped to use Sareth to shatter his prison, freeing the demons to overrun Ashan, but Arantir the Necromancer did everything in his power to try to kill the Demon messiah. Category:Lore of Ashan